Friction-clutch.



J. BOWEN.

.FRICTION CLUTCH. APPLIOATION 111.1111 111111.15, 1912.

Patented 0011211912.

BY H15 ATToRNEy UNITED srarns PATENT oPPioil.

n r.1l/ILES\B`l v,r.1\t, .oF MANHEIM. PENNSYLVANIA, AsSIGNoR Tol BONDPoUNDRY & MACHINE CQMPANY, 0F MANHEIM, PENNSYLVANIA, A 'ooaPoRATioN orPENN- FRICTION-CLUTCH.

Patented Oct. 8, y1912.

Application led March 15, 1912. Serial No. 684,045.

' B'eitknown that I, JAMES BOWEN, a .f itilen'ff'thefUnited States,residing in jwMaIlheim, A"Lancaster county, Pennsylvania,'ih'veijfinvented certain Improvements in -;"Frietion-7"Glutches,"ofwhich the following is J"slpe'cifica'tin. Y H Myffinve'ntion vrelates tothat type of friction clutch or coupling' (hereinafter termedlyfa'teiipling) in1 which one member has a Pflang-'to'- be engaged byshoes carried by "i eigiient's "on radially' movable 'stems guided n'Vthe 'other member and actuated by presser "'*l'ev'ers on said member,the objects of my in- "'ventionbeing to prevent injury to any part"'of'theperson byV accidental contact of the 9i same with a moving. partof the coupling; tols'implify 'andcheapen the construction of la4coupling of this type, and to insure the "grip ofonemember upon theother "wh'en'the samev are connected, and the ready release of onemember from the other when "'thesame are 'being disconnected.

""Intheaccompanying drawing Figure l is alongi'tud'inal vertical sectionof a friction coupling constructed in accordance with my uinventiong'Fig. '2 is a face view of one mem- 'berofthe same looking inthe direction of ,tliearrow, Fig, y'1; Fig. 3 is a transverse ,seotin'on the line .rz-a,y Fig. 2, but on an "enlarged scale, and Fig. 4 is atransverse "Sectionon theline b-b, Fig. 2.

In'"the"`olrawing, 1 and 2 represent ythe fadjoini'r'ig ends, ofl twoshafts which are to fbe'c'oii ledA together, 1 being the drivingofwwhich power is applied in any W" A's"11ita`ble`way, as for mstance,by means of a belton a pulley 3 which is secured to -said:shaft 1, and2,'being the shaft to which Apower istoY be transmitted, although aswill begevidentthe reverse of this arrangement may be itrue without inany way affecting the character of my invention, or the shaft 2 maysimply be clutched to or released from the pulleyy 3, which may beeither the driving or the driven member, the shaft- 1 either rotating orbeing stationar or bein omitted altogether if the shaft 2 is A extendedso as to carry the pulley 3. Keyed upon the shaft 2 is the hub 4 of adisk 5, .the latter being overlapped by a i fiange 6 which projects froma disk 7 secured to or forming part of a hub 8 of the wheel 3 or beingotherwise connected to the shaft 1, said flange 6 having an internalgroove 9 with flaring sides, as shown in l Fig. l.

Projecting from that face of the disk 5 which is toward the disk 7 are aseries of' bosses 10, four of which are shownvin the present instance,each of these bossesl having therein a cylindrical boreV for thereception of the similarly shaped stem 11 of a segment 12, whoseopposite faces are flared on an angle corresponding to the angle offlare of the opposite sides of the groove 9 in the fiange 6, each of theHaring faces of the segment carrying a shoe 13 of leather, felt, cork,or other desirable friction material.

The disk each of its bosses 10 and its hub 4 are slotted for thereception of levers 14 which are provided with fulcrum bolts 15, whoseinner ends rest in sockets in the bases of the slots in the .hub 4, asshown in Fig. 1, the inner end of the short arm of each lever 14entering a slot 16 in its respective stem 11 and bearing against theupper wall of said slot, as shown in Fig. 1. The long arm of each of thelevers 14 carries an anti-friction roller 17 which is acted upon by acone 18 free to slide longitudinally on the shaft 2, or the levers areotherwise connected to a longitudinally movable actuating device on theshaft.

At each end of each of the segments 12 is a projecting eye 19 to whichis connected the outer end of a coiled spring 20 whose inner end engagesa rib 21 projecting from the inner face of the disk 5 and serving toconnect and brace the slotted inner portions of the bosses 10, as shownin Fig. 2. When, therefore, the cone 18 is moved to the position shownin Fig. 1, the long arms of the levers 14 will be depressed and theirshort arms will be moved in the opposite direction so as to forceradially outward the stems 11 of the segments 12, thereby driving thelatter into the groove 9 in the flange 6 and causing the outwardlyflaring faces of the friction shoes 13 to be forced rmly into contactwith the similarly flaring sides of the groove, as shown in Flg. 1, theresulting wedge-like action insuring the firm grip of the shoes upon thewalls of the flange and a strong frictional driving connection betweenthe shafts 1 and 2, or between the shaft 2 and pulley 3.

The outward movement of the segments 12 causes vthe distention of thesprings 20 i' shaft 2 so as to free from its influence the rollers 17 onthe levers 14, the vrecoil of the springs 20 will cause the segments 12and their stems 11 to be drawn inwardly so as to free the friction shoes13 from contact with the walls'of the groove 9, the long arms of thelevers 14 being thrown outwardly so as to be again in position for theaction of the cone 18 when the latter is again moved to 4the posit-ionshown in Fig. 1.

The wedge-like form of thegroove in the flange 6, besides insuring a ringrip of the friction shoes 13, also facilitates the release of the samewhen the segments 12 are retracted under the influence of the springs20. The cylindrical form of the stems 11 simplifies the machine/worknecessary in the fitting up the parts of the clutch, the bosses 10simply having to be bored and the stems 11 turned, and the use of thefulcrum bolts 15 facilitates the hanging of the levers 14, since theinner ends of said bolts simply rest in the sockets formed in the outerface of the hub 4 for their reception, conse* quently the levers can bereadily applied or removed and provision is afforded for adjusting thesame so as to insure any desired application of force to the stems 11when the same are being thrust outwardly by the levers. The presence ofthe stifi'ening ribs 21 on the face of the disk 5 provides a ready meansfor attaching the inner ends of the springs 20.

It will be noted that the periphery of the disk 5 approaches closely tothe overhanging portion of the flange 6 on the disk 7 and that t-hesetwo members inclose the segments 12 and stems 11, the bosses 10 whichguide the latter, and the springs 20 which retract the segments so thatthev are protected from injury-by contact with any for- Y eign bodywhile they are in rotation, and

are also prevented from causing injury to any such foreign body. Inorder tov` likewise shield the levers 14 those portions of they latterwhich would otherwise be eX- posed are covered by a hoodM2-2 which maybe secured to or form part' of either the lever-carrying disk 5 or thelevereactuating sleeve 18. Inv the present instance it is carried by thedisk 5 and overlaps the sleeve 18, as slio-wn in Fig. 1', so as not tointerfere with the free back and forth move ment of the latter. The hood22 has open- 1. In a friction coupling, the combination of a disk havingbosses thereon, a 'series of clutch .segments each having a stem guidedin one of said bosses, a lever carrying member having levers acting uponsaid stemsv and each having a fulcrum bolt whose inner end is seated ina socket in the levercarrying member and is adjustable in respect to thelever.-

2. In a friction coupling, the combination of`a disk having a series ofbosses, and stiifening and strengthening ribs connecting the same, withclutch segments eachhaving a stem guided in one of the bosses, andretracting springs for said clutch segments" each engaging at its innerend with a rib on the disk.

3. In a friction coupling, the combination of one member having anoverhangng l flange and another member carrying a series ofclutchingelements for frictional engagement with said flange, the lattermember having a projecting flange which extends up to the flange on theother member, thereby inclosing the clutching elements and preventingexternal access thereto.

4. In a friction coupling, the combination of one member having anoverlianging ange and another member having clutching elements forfrictional engagement with said flange, said clutching elementsincluding actuating levers carried by said latter member, and havingadjustable `fulcrum bolts and a hood for covering said` levers andpreventing external access thereto said hood having openings in linewith said bolts for permitting access thereto when the clutch is atrest.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES BOWEN. Witnesses l MORGAN T. WILLIAMS,l WILLIAM `W. VVrLLIAMs.

